Not so sinister.
Trying to keep myself steeled, I shook the smile off my face and waltzed right past her. I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring the spread being prepared on the Calacatta marble island. “Another missing girl?”
I kept my eyes on them, hesitant about who exactly I was dealing with now.
Leo nodded. “Yeah, sad. She was twenty, went out partying to celebrate her birthday and never came home.”
My mind swam with possibilities, grateful — despite everything that had happened at The Hollow — that I’d gotten on Spencer and Leo’s bike that night at Red Poison and not some creep. I’d survived this long.
I tried desperately to stop my gaze from falling down Leo’s muscular, tattooed back. Her torso was completely exposed beneath her black apron, save for the nude tape covering her chest.
Whipping around from the stove, Leo smiled nervously. “How’d you sleep, Princess?”
I couldn’t help scoffing at the text on the apron:Let’s eat out instead.
“Stupid apron.” I shook my head.
Leo leaned over the island, lifting an eyebrow and resting her palms on the marble. “Can’t say that until you’ve sampled the offerings.” Before I could respond, she stood up straight and turned off the last burner. “You’re just in time.”
Spencer cleared her throat behind me, not wanting to startle me with her warm hand on my back. But I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t want that. The comfort of the gesture might wash away my fear, if only for a moment.
“This way, m’lady.” Spencer held out her arm.
My brows furrowed as I stepped toward the dining room. Just last night, this entire room was closed up; every piece of furniture had been covered in white cloth and left to collect dust.
Someone must have stayed up last night to clean it. The warm wood of the huge mahogany dining table shimmered under the sunlight. It was beautiful, grand, and somehow cozy in such a massive house.
But more impressive than the polish job was the spread of food on the table. “Jesus.”
“No need for him, here. Just us, baby.” Spencer whispered as she pulled out a chair for me.
I should’ve still been angry, fuming. They’d let Dom touch me like that, push me around like she owned me. And my two “saviors” hadn’t done anything. It was like the mention of whatever The Oracle was had been enough to turn off all of the protective instincts.”
And if I was going to be stuck here, it was in my best interest to find out why.
As I walked across the room to my designated seat, I ran my hand along the smooth wood. I couldn’t imagine how long it had sat like that, forgotten in this half-decaying building.
Once my fingertips met the wood, I felt my chest tighten. My mind flashed back to digging my nails into a table just like this as a child, the way I’d tried to avoidhim.
Who was he?
Before I could search my memories for the answer, Spencer shrugged. “We just wanted to do something nice for you.”
They’d done all of this — cleaned, cooked, prepared — overnight.
Had they stayed up all night to do it? Ignored their own need for sleep just to surprise me?
A part of me couldn’t believe this wasn’t a setup. My nerves urged me to bolt back upstairs and lock myself in my room. Maybe it was safer there.
But if I was really stuck here, captive to these two gorgeous gods, I needed to figure out how to navigate whatever they’d roped me into. Playing nice was my only hope if I ever wanted to get out of this fucking house.
From the kitchen doorway, Leo untied her apron and tossed it into a hamper filled with dirty rags. “Shall we?” In her hand was a steaming platter of freshly cooked pancakes.
Setting the platter down in front of me, Leo grabbed a clean shirt from the chair next to mine and pulled it over her head. Herabs rippled as she draped the fabric over her skin. And I felt a part of me grow disappointed to miss the view.
What is wrong with you?I wanted to look in a mirror and give myself a good slap of reality. After everything I’d seen last night, what I experienced in those dark tunnels, in that horrid arena, how could I want to be anywhere near them? How could they possibly explain all of that terror away?
53
